Mission Marble Falls teeing off Aug. 16 to feed the hungry
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — When Mission Marble Falls started its free lunch program in Marble Falls earlier this year, organizers knew there was a need for it. They just didn’t how big of a need.
Several months later, the program — which serves a hot lunch three times a week at St. Frederick Baptist Church — needs a little help.
“We definitely need more volunteers,” said Tina McLain, a Mission Marble Falls organizer. “But we also need donations, food, funds — just about anything. Anything we don’t use, we’ll pass on to an organization that can use it.”
Another way to help is by teeing off to support the program.
Mission Marble Falls’ first golf tournament — a four-person scramble — is sAug. 16 at Hidden Falls Golf Club, 220 Meadowlakes Drive in Meadowlakes. While the registration deadline has passed, supporters can still help by participating in the prize drawing and the silent auction.
But you can also check to see if any slots are open for golfers.
The tournament starts at 1 p.m. with registration beginning at noon.
Chris Bean and Grant Dean started Mission Marble Falls after they saw the need for a free lunch program. Bean tossed around the idea for almost a year until the Rev. George Perry of St. Frederick offered the church’s kitchen to host the program — and Mission Marble Falls found a home.
Since it began in March, the program has averaged serving 1,000 meals a month. Some people come in, get a meal, sit down and enjoy it. Others take it home. Sometimes, it’s a little of both.
“We have people who walk in here with an oxygen tank,” Dean said, adding that one of those takes a meal home to his bedridden wife.
“There’s a lot of people who need this, and we want to keep it going,” he said.
Some of the prizes at the tournament are a 51-inch TV, a Yeti cooler and a round of golf at Escondido Golf and Lake Club in Horseshoe Bay among other items. A golfer who sinks a hole-in-one on a particular par-three hole wins a new golf cart.
Volunteering is another way you can help the organization. McLain said Mission Marble Falls is in need of cooks. But it doesn’t take somebody highly skilled in the kitchen to help. McLain said the regular cooks prepare the food ahead of time.
“It’s pretty simple,” she said. “They line out the times, get it ready, and you just have to put it all together.”
Food and monetary donations also help.
“There’s an incredible need for this,” Dean said. “For some, this could be the only hot meal they get during the day. But it’s open to everybody who just wants a meal.”
Go to missionmarblefalls.com for more information or to volunteer. The program serves meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. St. Frederick Baptist Church, 301 Ave. N.
daniel@thepicayune.com